phelps

Nairobi's meet just lost its main event... the 100m Olympic Champion Marcell Jacobs in fact has been recovered to the hospital because of severe gastric problems, with high fever, vomiting and diarrhea... he was set to make his outdoor debut in an intriguing challenge against Fred Kerley and some of the best African specialists... now his whole season is in danger (hope he hasn't got malaria)...

DEL as written in the past few days, the Eisbären Berlin won the 2021/2022 DEL championship, their 9th success overall, second in a row. The club formerly know as SC Dynamo ended up the regular season on top of the standings, the only team to score over 2 points per game. In the playoffs, they got rid of Koelner Haie without any trouble, but they had to fight hard until the decisive game #5 in the semifinals against Mannheim and even in the final series against Red Bull Munich they had to comeback after losing the first match on the home ice. But once they got going, they've just been unstoppable (the one-sided game #4 is there to show their power). LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings & Playoffs Rounds Recap https://www.penny-del.org/spielplan Final Series Game #1: Eisbären Berlin - Red Bull Munich 3-4 (2-0; 1-3; 0-1) Game Highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/eisbaeren-berlin-ehc-red-bull-muenchen/9286 Game #2: Red Bull Munich - Eisbären Berlin 2-3 OT2 (1-1; 0-0; 1-1; 0-2; 0-1) Game Highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/ehc-red-bull-muenchen-eisbaeren-berlin/9350 Game #3: Eisbären Berlin - Red Bull Munich 2-1 (1-1; 1-0; 0-0) Game Highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/eisbaeren-berlin-ehc-red-bull-muenchen/9351 Game #4: Red Bull Munich - Eisbären Berlin 0-5 (0-1; 0-3; 0-1) Game Highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/ehc-red-bull-muenchen-eisbaeren-berlin/9354

Yesterday night Färjestad BK won game #4 of the SHL Finals on the home ice against Luleå HF by a score of 3-2 after OT (2-0, 0-1, 0-1, 1-0) thanks to a goal scored by Jesse Virtanen @ 64.05. Now the series is tied at 2 games apiece. Game #5 is scheduled for tomorrow in Luleå (puck frop @ 3.15 p.m. local/CET) Game #4 highlights https://www.shl.se/play/video/168440?provider=staylive&autoplay=1

meanwhile, yesterday Luleå HF won game #3 of the SHL Finals on the home ice against Färjestad BK by a score of 5-4 after OT (3-1, 0-1, 1-2, 1-0) and now they lead the series 2 games to 1. Game #4 is scheduled for tomorrow in Karlstad (puck frop @ 7.30 p.m. local/CET) Game #3 highlights https://www.shl.se/play/video/168352?provider=staylive&autoplay=1

breaking news... The Eisbären Berlin are the DEL Champions 2021/2022 They won game #4 of the DEL Finals against Red Bull Munich on the road by a score of 5-0 (1-0, 3-0, 1-0) to close the whole series down 3 games to 1. It's the 9th title for the Polar Bears since the foundation of the DEL (1994/1995), the second in a row. They also won 15 titles in the former East Germany Bundesliga as SC Dynamo Berlin.

thanks! great coverage, as usual... p.s. from yesterday, I'm a Slovak, too... the fact is that in Italy the NHL havs dismissed NHL.tv and left us with the average (if not poor) coverage by ESPN Player (we also have a tv broadcaster like sky Italia, but they only show 1 game/week in the RS and 2/3 games/week now in the playoffs)... but, surprise surprise, since yesterday also the ESPN Player's service is unavailable in Italy, so we can't watch the NHL playoffs anywhere except for the few games offered by sky ITA... so, I turned my vpn on and I subscribed NHL.tv as if I were in Bratislava...and luckily it works well on my android TV, so I can watch the NHL playoffs in peace (unfortunately my apple tv's app -which has a way better picture quality- doesn't work because no vpn can be used on it and because they make a check connected to the Apple ID and the GPS position -and my Apple ID is Italian and the GPS does locate me in Italy, of course)...

Athletics, women's 400m...well, Cathy Freeman's gold in Sydney was very emotional not only for herself...on the other hand, Marita Koch probably will never be beaten by a true woman, but I refuse to pick one of dirtiest symbols of the dirtiest sports fraud ever... therefore, my choice is Marie Josè Perec, the true queen of the killing lap... Swimming, men's 100m Fly...Michael Phelps won 3 times, but he's never been a pure specialist of this race, Caeleb dressel's record is something out of this world... but I have to pick Mark Spitz, because that was his special race and because without him and his 1972 performance, no Phelps, Lochte or Dressel of this world would have even tried to swim so many races in a single meet with that intensity and effectiveness as they have... Swimming, women's 10km...since Viola Valli, the strongest specialist ever couldn't even swim her race at the Olympics (she stopped her career before the event was included in the Olympic program) and we have just a few Olympic Champions to compare, I pass on this event... Diving, women's 10m Platform...well, here I don't have any doubt...it can be a springboard, a platform, a rock in the middle of the Ocean...1, 3, 5, 10 or 30 meters... Fu Mingxia is the one and only GOAT of women's diving and therefore she's my pick... Canoe Sprint, men's C1 1000m...here my pick is Sebastian Brendel, the only man to double up the gold medal in this discipline in modern times...

updates from last night... Färjestad BK won game #2 of the SHL Finals against Luleå HF by a score of 4-0 (2-0, 1-0, 1-0) and now the series is tied 1-1. Game #3 is scheduled for Tomorrow in Luleå (puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. local/CET). Game #2 highlights https://www.shl.se/play/video/168294?provider=staylive&autoplay=1 in Germany, the Eisbären Berlin won the 3rd game of the DEL Finals against Red Bull Munich by a score of 2-1 (1-1, 1-0, 0-0) and now they lead the best-of-5 series 2 games to 1. They could clinch the title with 1 more win. Game #4 is scheduled for Tomorrow in Munich (puck drop @ 7.15 p.m. local/CET). Game #3 highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/eisbaeren-berlin-ehc-red-bull-muenchen/9351

Let's go Kings!

NLA EV Zug wrote a memorable page in the history of the Swiss NLA. They dominated the season, but in the playoffs final series against ZSC Lions Zürich they were shoulders to the wall, down 3-0 after 3 games where they took an early lead and the Lions were capable of coming back late and win dramatic matches. But when it did look all over, something changed in the series' balance and what was always going wrong for Zug, suddenly it started to go in the right direction. after 4 more games, on of the most amazing comebacks in the history of Swiss (and global) hockey was completed and EV Zug won the 2021/2022 NLA title. LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings https://www.sihf.ch/de/game-center/national-league/#/standing/rank/asc/page/0/ Playoffs Rounds Recap https://www.sihf.ch/de/game-center/national-league/#/bestof//asc/page/0/ (just choose the correct playoffs round in the small menu in this page) Final Series Game #1: EV Zug - ZSC Lions Zürich 2-3 (0-0; 2-1; 0-3) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/700571805 Game #2: ZSC Lions Zürich - EV Zug 2-1 (0-0; 1-1; 1-0) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/701412653 Game #3: EV Zug - ZSC Lions Zürich 1-2 (1-0; 0-0; 0-2) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/702425373 Game #4: ZSC Lions Zürich - EV Zug 1-4 (1-1; 0-1; 0-2) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/703026935 Game #5: EV Zug - ZSC Lions Zürich 4-1 (0-0; 1-1; 3-0) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/703890113 Game #6: ZSC Lions Zürich - EV Zug 0-2 (0-1; 0-0; 0-1) Game Highlights https://www.mynationalleague.ch/videos/national-league/playback/704702196 Game #7: EV Zug - ZSC Lions Zürich 3-1 (1-1; 1-0; 1-0) Game Highlights Coming Soon...

Tipos Extraliga Slovan Bratislava dominated the 2021/2022 Tipos Extraliga. They won both the regular season and the playoffs. In the post-season they had the most troubles in the semifinal series against HC Kosice, but they finally survived a game-7 OT winner and then they closed the championship beating HK Nitra by a score of 4 games to 2 in the final series. LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings https://www.hockeyslovakia.sk/sk/stats/standings/843/tipos-extraliga Playoffs Rounds Recap Pre-Playoffs Round HC Grotto Prešov b. HK Spišská Nová Ves 3-0 (3-0, 4-3 OT, 3-2) HC ‘05 Banská Bystrica b. HK Dukla Trenčín 3-1 (3-2, 4-2, 2-3 OT, 3-1) Quarterfinals HC Slovan Bratislava b. HC Grotto Prešov 4-0 (6-2, 2-1, 3-2 OT, 2-0) HC Košice b. HK Dukla Ingema Michalovce 4-2 (4-1, 3-1, 2-1 OT, 2-6, 1-4, 2-1 OT) HKM Zvolen b. HC ‘05 Banská Bystrica 4-1 (5-1, 1-2, 2-1, 6-2, 3-2 OT) HK Nitra b. HK Poprad 4-3 (0-4, 7-1, 6-4, 2-4, 3-4, 5-1, 3-1) Semifinals HK Nitra b. HKM Zvolen 4-2 (3-2, 5-6, 3-2, 2-3, 5-2, 2-1) HC Slovan Bratislava b. HC Košice 4-3 (5-2, 6-2, 1-3, 1-3, 3-2, 2-4, 3-2 OT) Final Series Game #1: HC Slovan Bratislava - HK Nitra 6-4 (2-1; 3-1; 1-2) Game Highlights Game #2: HC Slovan Bratislava - HK Nitra 1-2 OT (0-0; 0-0; 1-1; 0-1) Game Highlights Game #3: HK Nitra - HC Slovan Bratislava 2-6 (0-2; 1-4; 1-0) Game Highlights Game #4: HK Nitra - HC Slovan Bratislava 4-1 (1-0; 2-0; 1-1) Game Highlights Game #5: HC Slovan Bratislava - HK Nitra 3-1 (0-0; 2-1; 1-0) Game Highlights Game #6: HK Nitra - HC Slovan Bratislava 2-5 (0-0; 1-1; 1-4) Game Highlights

KHL CSKA Moscow won the 2021/2022 KHL after coming back from 1-3 against Metallurg Magnitogorsk, winning the final series 4 games to 3. After a quite disappointing regular season (3rd best record in the West Division, 8th overall), when it looked that they were done and dusted in the final series, they always found something in the deep of their hearts to overcome adversity and take the Cup back home. LEAGUE SUMMARY Regular Season Final Standings https://en.khl.ru/standings/1097/conference/ Playoffs Rounds Recap https://en.khl.ru/standings/ Final Series Game #1: Metallurg - CSKA 1-3 (0-0; 1-2; 0-1) Game Highlights Game #2: Metallurg - CSKA 6-4 (1-0; 4-3; 1-1) Game Highlights Game #3: CSKA - Metallurg 0-4 (0-1; 0-1; 0-2) Game Highlights Game #4: CSKA - Metallurg 0-1 (0-0; 0-1; 0-0) Game Highlights Game #5: Metallurg - CSKA 2-3 OT (0-0; 0-1; 2-1; 0-1) Game Highlights Game #6: CSKA - Metallurg 2-1 (2-0; 0-1; 0-0) Game Highlights Game #7: Metallurg - CSKA 1-4 (0-2; 1-1; 0-1) Game Highlights

Quite a good day at the office for France and Italy...

2021/2022 Fencing World Cup Women's Team Foil ( Tauberbischofsheim) Gold: Italy Silver: France Bronze: Japan Semifinals France b. Japan 45-37 Italy b. South Korea 45-30 Bronze Medal Match Japan b. South Korea 45-30 Gold Medal Match Italy b. France 45-31 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/201 Men's Team Foil ( Plovdiv) Gold: Italy Silver: France Bronze: United States Semifinals Italy b. USA 45-27 France b. Japan 45-42 Bronze Medal Match USA b. Japan 45-42 Gold Medal Match Italy b. France 45-28 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/571

2021/2022 Fencing World Cup Women's Individual Epee ( Cairo) Gold: Choi In Jeong Silver: Auriane Mallo Bronze: Katharine Holmes & Song Sera Semifinals Choi b. Song 11-10 Mallo b. Holmes 15-9 Final Choi b. Mallo 15-14 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/95 Men's Individual Epee ( Cairo) Gold: Yannick Borel Silver: Nelson Lopez Pourtier Bronze: Alex Fava & Gergely Siklosi Semifinals Borel b. Siklosi 15-10 Lopez Pourtier b. Fava 9-8 Final Borel b. Lopez Pourtier 15-5 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/113

last day of the championships... and France thanks to Romane Dicko won their 3rd gold medal, which gave them the final victory in the medal table (3 Gold, 2 Silver, 3 Bronze medals for them). Great Britain, Netherlands and Georgia finished the tournament with 2 Gold medals each. Azerbaijan, Spain, Israel, Ukraine and Germany won "only" 1 Gold medal each. Italy didn't have a memorable championship, despite some encouraging results by a few youngsters (in particular, today we finally got a very rare medal in the women's super-heavyweight thanks to the promising Asya Tavano). A lot of regrets for Alice Bellandi, who dominated 2 of the top 3 specialists in the world in the -78kg class (Malonga in the quarterfinals and Malzahn in the bronze medal fight), but wasted the chance of her (young) career in the semi against Boehm (she got a stupid 3rd shido in the golden score period)... full results https://live.ijf.org/eju_sen2022/results

a true sportsman...

meanwhile in Germany, the Eisbären Berlin equalled the DEL Finals at 1 apiece against Red Bull Munich after exploiting Munich's ice arena in game #2 by a score of 3-2 after 2 OTs. Game #3 is scheduled already for Tomorrow in Berlin (puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. local/CET). p.s let me tell you...those Germans are crazy! so many back-to-back games (with long travels in between) in the final stint of the playoffs... how to ruin the show! Game #2 report & highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/ehc-red-bull-muenchen-eisbaeren-berlin/9350

breaking news... Slovan Bratislava won game #6 of the Slovak Extraliga Finals on the road against HK Nitra by a score of 5-2. So, they're crown Slovak Champions Series score: Slovan, 4 beat Nitra, 2 more in the next few days... @hckošice any comment?

also tonight... EV Zug and ZSC Lions Zürich will play the decisive 7th game of the Swiss NLA Finals (puck drop @ 8 p.m. local/CET) since last Friday night EV Zug won game #6 by a score of 2-0 and completed an unbelievable comeback from 0-3 down in the series... Tonight they might write a memorable page in the history of the Swiss (and global) Hockey...

day 2 more titles for France and Great Britain (now 1st and 2nd in the medal table with 2 gold medals each) and first success for Azerbaijan and Georgia... for Italy, pleasant surprise by Giovanni Esposito in the men's -73kg class, who had the day of his life and got so close to the title. Unfortunately a mistake in the golden score period cost him the full success against an experienced athlete like Heydarov. some promising effort also by Giacomo Gamba (who won against a man like De Wit, but then wasted it all against an Ukranian guy when he had the route to the medal round open). No comment on Fabio Basile, a former athlete...boiled, to say the least. Not a good day also for the other judo player today on the mat. today's action recap https://www.ijf.org/news/show/coup-d-etat-in-sofia

2021/2022 Fencing World Cup Women's Individual Foil ( Tauberbischofsheim) Gold: Lee Kiefer Silver: Anita Blaze Bronze: Erica Cipressa & Karin Miyawaki Semifinals Kiefer b. Miyawaki 15-13 Blaze b. Cipressa 15-13 Final Kiefer b. Blaze 15-7 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/122 Men's Individual Foil ( Plovdiv) Gold: Alessio Foconi Silver: Daniele Garozzo Bronze: Tommaso Marini & Gergo Szemes Semifinals Foconi b. Szemes 15-4 Garozzo b. Marini 15-6 Final Foconi b. Garozzo 15-11 Full Ranking & Results https://fie.org/competitions/2022/147

sorry for the lack of updates, but it's a busy (and full of troubles) weekend... so, very quickly... CSKA Moscow completed an amazing comeback in the final series and thanks to a 4-1 road win in Magnitogorsk in game #7, won the 2022 Gagarin Cup. https://en.khl.ru/news/2022/04/30/499142.html Game #7 highlights more about this KHL season in the next few days... Red Bull Munich took advantage of the very short rest by the Eisbären Berlin and went from 0-3 down at the beginning of the second period to a 4-3 win at the end of regulation in game #1 of the DEL Finals. Game report & highlights https://www.penny-del.org/event/eisbaeren-berlin-ehc-red-bull-muenchen/9286 Game #2 is scheduled for tomorrow (puck drop @ 3.15 p.m. local/CET) earlier today Luleå HF won game #1 of the SHL Finals 4-1 on home ice against Färjestad BK. Game #2 is scheduled for Monday in Karlstad (puck drop @ 7.30 p.m. local/CET). Game #1 Highlights https://www.shl.se/play/video/168061?provider=staylive&autoplay=1 Slovan Bratislava won game #5 of the Extraliga Finals by a score of 3-1 on home soil and now they lead the series 3-2. Tomorrow (puck drop @ 6 p.m. local/CET) they could clinch the title with 1 more win on the ice of HK Nitra. Game #5 Highlights

Italy have gone shopping once again... our newest competitor in the men's division is no less than Jesse Mendes, Tatiana Weston-Webb's husband (he has some Italian heritage by his father's side)... not only, Italy also hired Adriano De Souza (2015 WSL world champion) as the main assistent coach of Yann Martin (confirmed as the head of the technical staff of our NT)...

Day 1 of the championships... 5 gold medals awarded to 5 different Countries and a couple of remarkable upsets (above all, Bouchard and Krasniqi's losses in the women's -52kg class)... France is on top of the medal table so far thanks to 1 gold and a few more silver & bronze medals, followed by Spain with 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal... for Italy, a day to forget, especially for Odette Giuffrida, double Olympic and multiple european medallist, who couldn't even make the consolation final... only half-positive note of the day, the lone bronze medal by Elios Manzi, his first good result in the -66kg class and the first good international appearance overall since long time and after many, too many, injuries...